I am a writer (of poetry mainly) and photographer. I also teach creative writing part-time. I first became aware of photography in the 1970s. Robert Frank was probably my first big influence, then Cartier-Bresson, Andre Kertesz, Martin Parr's 'Bad Weather' and Fay Godwin's 'Land'. Koudelka was anot Read more...

I am a writer (of poetry mainly) and photographer. I also teach creative writing part-time. I first became aware of photography in the 1970s. Robert Frank was probably my first big influence, then Cartier-Bresson, Andre Kertesz, Martin Parr's 'Bad Weather' and Fay Godwin's 'Land'. Koudelka was another revelation.

In 1979, when I was working in a Dublin restaurant, someone lent me their SLR for the day. It was like an unblinkering, the opening of a third eye; I found that this was a language I already spoke with some fluency (having spent a year in Art School probably helped). I have been taking photographs ever since.

In the last few years I have given more time to my photography, and have completed a project on The Burren/Inis Mór. I was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call from the Observer last year to say that one of my photographs (of a Chinese takeaway) had been shortlisted for the Observer 'Seeds of Change' competition. It didn't win, but it was a pleasure to go and see it mounted and exhibited with the others in the Oxo Tower Gallery in London. The photo is on their website HERE Just click on 'Runners Up' on the right and scroll across.

My previous publishers, Salmon Poetry (Galway) and Salt (UK) have let me do the cover photography for my three collections, 'Airborne' (2001) 'The Sky Road' (2007) and 'Fade Street' (2010). I was especially pleased with the cover of my 2007 collection, a B&W photo I took in 1994 with my old Nikon F3, of a couple asleep on a bus in Wicklow. I still think it is one of my best.